SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



35 1 



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An Abnormal Newt. — When dipping in a pond 

 about three years ago for creatures to stock my 

 aquarium I caught a newt which seems to be 

 different from any of those that I have seen 

 described in books. It was found under the roots 

 of an osmunda fern that was growing on the border 

 of a small pond about twenty yards by ten yards in 

 extent. This pond contains great numbers of the 

 palmate newt. LopMnus palmattis, in the early 



part of the summer, but I have never found any 

 other species there. I thought that this newt was 

 the larva of the great water-newt, Triton cristatus, 

 and so took it home and kept it in an aquarium 

 2 ft. by 1 ft. in size, with about seven inches of 

 water. The newt had well-developed gills, which 

 I expected it would absorb in the autumn, on 

 leaving the water and taking refuge on an island 

 arranged in the centre of the aquarium. To my 



surprise, however, it never left the water at all, but 

 remained in the larval condition with its gills 

 nearly as well developed as when first caught. 

 This interesting creature has hardly grown half an 

 inch during these three years, and except for this 

 small increase in size has not altered in any way. 

 The food on which the newt feeds consists of the 

 smaller inhabitants of the aquarium — sucli as 

 water-mites, young leeches, hydras, and many 



others — but when these are scarce I give it worms 

 and flies. When I agitate the surface of the water 

 it comes for the flies, but finds some difficulty in 

 seizing them, as they are so buoyant on the surface. 

 In warm weather the newt often stays on a rock 

 with its nose just out of the water and the rest of 

 the body submerged, and this seems to show that 

 it has developed lungs, as does also the fact that 



it is very fond of giving up bubbles <>f air. There 

 arc three gills on each side, one pair being much 

 smaller than the others. They are capable of 

 movement, as sometimes they are carried well for- 

 ward and at others lying back against the sides. 

 Another remarkable feature of this newt is the 



great prominence of the under lip, which would 

 lead one to suppose that it was the straight-lipped 

 newt. The colour, generally, is dark brown on the 

 dorsal surface, shading into silvery grey vent ri- 

 cally, while the whole surface is slightly mottle. I. 

 The crest on the tail always remains the same 

 height through summer and winter. Very often 

 there are tears in its edge, made, I think, by the 

 larvae of dragonflies which live in the same 

 aquarium. At the end of the tail is a short fila- 

 ment about half the length of that on L. palmatw. 

 The length of the newt is within an eighth of an 

 inch of three inches. The figures of explanation 

 are : Fig. 1. An outline drawing of the newt as 

 seen when lying at the bottom of a dish ; the Legs 

 are thus spread out in their natural position.--. 

 Fig. 2. A side view taken through a glass vessel. 

 Fig. 3. This shows the protruberence of the under 

 lip. Fig. 4. A shaded drawing to show the general 

 character of the markings. — A. T. Mwndy, Corn- 

 wood Vicarage, Ivybridge, Devon, March 1901. 



Woodpecker Feeding on Ground.— It is no 



uncommon sight to see woodpeckers feeding on 

 the ground, particularly when there are ants' nests 

 about. It is curious to see them drive their beaks 

 into the ground in search of the ants and their 

 pupae. — I). WiUon-Barlter, Greenhithc. 



Woodpecker Feeding on Ground. — With 

 regard to the note of Mr. Dallas (ante, p. 316), this 

 is not such an uncommon circumstance as many 

 persons imagine. Ant-hills are very favourite 

 hunting-grounds for these birds. I have often 

 watched them at work : they penetrate with their 

 strong bills deeply into the ant-hill in order to 

 obtain the pupae, or so-called ant-eggs, as well as 

 ants themselves. I have seen specimens of these. 

 birds with the breast quite stained with red earth, 

 among which they had been searching for ants. — 

 E. Wheeler, 71 Queens Road, Clifton, Bristol. 



Formalin as a Preservative fob Plants. — 



The use of formalin for the preservation of zoe- 

 logical specimens is now very general, and its 

 advantages were mentioned in the last number of 

 this journal (ante, p. 313). Its application to the 

 preservation of plants and flowers, however, is quite 

 new, and the experiments of Mr. J. W. Peck, which 

 are described in the " Pharmaceutical Journal," 

 are extremely interesting and suggestive. The 

 most satisfactory results were obtained with a 

 5 per cent, solution of formaldehyde, i.e. an eighth 

 of the strength of the commercial formalin, which 

 contains 40 per cent, of formaldehyde. Tin 

 flowers and portions of plants immersed in this 

 and kept in the dark remained intact, whilst the 

 tissues became more or less translucent, showing 

 the structure. After seventeen months yellow 

 calceolaria flowers had lost but little of their 

 colour, whilst a tulip and hyacinth had lost 



